SAVANNAH, Ga. (WJCL) -- Chatham County commissioners voted 5-4 Friday in favor of ending negotiations with the city and not merging the police department. In favor of starting their own force.

The county representatives said neither the city nor the county could come to agreement on the amount that the county should pay. The county said it has had little cooperation from the city in the past, and commissioners do not see that changing in the future.

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The move comes in the wake of a contentious negotiation dating back to August 2014.

It seemed last month that negotiations were faring better when Chatham County commissioners voted to pass their version of the Savannah-Chatham Metro Police merger. The Savannah City Council approved a version of the agreement in August.

The two agreements were similar, but had different expectations of what Chatham County will pay. Commissioners have repeatedly said that they only want to pay only $14.1 million annually during the two-year extension.

"That $14.1 million in my vote included any pay raises, body camera, whatever that was, it was it," said Commissioner Tony Center, who voted against the agreement in September.

Even with language added ensuring that any additional costs will have to be approved by a policy board that includes commission Chairman Al Scott, four commissioners said it's still not an agreement that they want to advance.

"You can't dress this thing up. It's not a good deal. It could be, but it's not," said Commissioner Patrick Farrell last month.

And while opposing commissioners argued for the end of the decade-long merger, other commissioners cited the large cost of an independent department, and the public safety risk that could come by separating the departments.

Commissioners Helen Stone, James Holmes, and Yusuf Shabazz all said crime was too much of a problem to put an end to the merger, they told WJCL in September.

"We need to pull together. We need to pool all of our resources to combat crime. Crime isn't going anywhere any time soon," Stone said.